White blood cells called b cells produce proteins that can be used for the treatment of certain illnesses. however, these b cells do not live for very long on their own. to keep the b cells growing for a long time in laboratories, scientists fuse the b cells with cancer cells (fused b-cancer cells) that do grow for a very long time. the particular cancer cells used for the fusion are treated with chemicals that make them unable to produce the nitrogenous bases adenine and guanine, but the b cells with which they are fused do produce these nitrogenous bases. the scientists grow the large fused b-cancer cells in a growth medium that contains necessary nutrients for the cells and includes a source of carbon.
(a) describe the role of carbon in biological systems.